Songs in Four-Part Harmony

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 536, 30 September 1949, Page 9

Songs in Four-Part Harmony

REGULARLY on Monday evenings since August 8, the Harmony Serenaders, a Wellington group of entertainers, have been providing 2YA’s listeners with a pleasant session of the song hits of the day, presented in novel arrangements. The singers and accompanying players specialise in an easy, natural style, bringing out the melody rather than obscuring it with the instrumental and vocal excursions which are part and parcel of many modern recordings from overseas. During the studio broadcasts recordings were made of the sessions, | and they will be heard shortly from other NZBS stations. : The Harmony Serenaders, who appeared in 2YA Concert Party programmes during the war years, became widely popular with the Armed Forces and took part in some 500 camp concerts. The original combination consisted of Merle Gamble, Sylvia Devenie, Yvonne Andrews and Doreen Calvert. Two of the members left-one to be married and another to: go overseasand’ the Serenaders broke up. Recently the group was revived by the founder of the original party, Henry Rudolph, and now the members are Joyce Izett, Margaret Richmond, Jeanne Thompson and Eunice Scott, with Allen Wellbrock and Henry Rudolph as pianists. Henry Rudolph also plays the piano-accordion pe vibraphone, The compére is Ron Pritchard. John Hoskins, the soloist, is a baritone with an unusual range, but he consistently uses a low pitch to provide a contrast with the background voices of the girls who sing in four-part close harmony, without departing too far from

the orthodox. The instruments are used to heighten the effect. One of the Harmony Serenadegs’ most successful items is a special arrangement of the currently popular song "Buttons and Bows" (an overseas recording of which was placed at the top of the list in the recent anniversary competition of Hit Parade, heard from the Commercial stations).